Check out the first single from Jessie Monk’s upcoming EP, ‘Here, Now’. ‘Maybe in Another Life’ makes use of classic instrumentation in a fresh and upbeat way, though the easy melody hides a story of heartbreak and falling for someone who is unavailable. The Berlin-based Australian singer-songwriter delivers her smooth vocal with confidence and clarity, buoyed by strings and excellent harmonica.
Monk explains the background behind the song: “‘Maybe In Another Life’ was one of the first songs I ever wrote and finished. I had just graduated
drama school and been travelling through India for a few months prior, meeting artist and musicians from all over the world and jamming and writing with them and after three years of perfecting other people’s songs, it was about time for my subconscious to vomit out some stories of my own.
I found the first one that came out to be telling and amusing; a story of investment and involvement with a man in a relationship. Though I’d been desensitized to the taboo around this narrative with songs from my biggest inspiration, Joni Mitchell, like ‘Conversation’ and ‘Coyote’, the genesis for me came from my own experience. An unfavourable pattern of mine has always been to fall in love with the unavailable man. Whether that’s out of an unhealthy fetish or the seduction of the safety that that situation promises; being free from real vulnerability, I do not know. But the song is always hair raising as those in relationships who are watching are reminded of the inherent instability of any relationship when external forces of desire and longing come into play.
But the moral of the story isn’t for ladies to ‘watch out for their men’, or to glorify seductive infidelity, it’s more to convey the bittersweet tragedy of connecting really well with someone who, it will just never eventuate within this life. The what ifs, the heartbreak of sliding doors and the millions of potential seeds that are never planted and given a chance to grow.”
There is excellent musicianship on show here along with an engaging joy in the performance. On the strength of this new single, the EP will be one to look out for.
